Crochet Coral Reef

Book excerpt: Now perhaps the world's largest participatory art and science project, the Crochet Coral Reef combines mathematics, marine biology, environmental consciousness-raising and community art practice. Almost 8,000 people around the world have contributed to making an ever-evolving archipelago of giant woolen seascapes, which have been exhibited at the Hayward Gallery, the Smithsonian and many other venues. This fully illustrated book, written by the project's creators--Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring--brings together the scientific and mathematical content behind the project, along with essays about the artistic and cultural resonances of this unique experiment in radical craft practice. With a wealth of color illustrations, the book serves as a record of the 30-plus Crochet Reefs worldwide and names all 7,000-plus contributors in a specially designed section.